


Moving Past the Sunrise

by EdenDavis



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, F/F, Romance, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 20:05:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1660793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdenDavis/pseuds/EdenDavis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after Dani's first appearance on Glee. Santana's relationship is starting to develop with Dani as they take it to the next level.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the Sunrise

**Chapter 1: After the Sunrise**

Ever since the day that Dani and Santana watched the sunrise together, Santana never wanted to sleep. Dani's quick kiss had been the first  _real_ contact she had since breaking up with Brittany, and it was amazing. Dani left trails of goose bumps wherever she touched her, and then she would smile when Santana shivered.

Dani was amused by Santana's obvious crush on her, but it didn't mean that she didn't also feel the same way. She told herself that the quick kiss on the front stoop of her building was an impulsive decision, but she meant it when she said Santana deserved a Sapphic goddess. And Dani intended to be that, all the way.

In the week following the kiss, the two girls didn't see each other very often. They worked complimentary shifts at the diner, and were forced to sustain themselves on the quick glances they stole at the ends and beginnings of the day. But exactly a week after they watched the sunrise, Santana and Dani were finally booked for that same graveyard shift together.

It was slow going for the first couple of hours, so Santana decided to help the dishwashers in the kitchen. She went through the swinging double doors after asking Dani if it was alright, and began drying some of the spoons after they emerged from the industrial washer. It was repetitive work, and her mind began busying itself with thoughts of her next auditions – there was one for  _The Secret Garden_ , and she'd been working really hard on one of the songs.

"Gonna go take a smoke break," the regular dishwasher said before picking up his bag and pushing through the door.

 _Perfect,_ thought Santana, and she began to hum. She liked the songs from  _The Secret Garden_ because they were more classical than a lot of the stuff she'd sang in Glee club, but they still let her experiment with different runs. She had just started one, sliding up to a perfect C, when she felt her body being pulled backwards.

Santana stopped, startled, as she was being whirled around with the spoon still in hand. As soon as her head was turned back towards the door, she saw that Dani had pulled on one of the drawstrings of her apron, bridging the physical gap that separated them since their first kiss. A fire lit in Santana's stomach as she looked into Dani's playful eyes, and she gulped.

"No, don't stop San, I love hearing you sing," Dani said softly as she let go from the apron and grabbed the spoon.

 _How am I supposed to sing?_ was all Santana could think. That, and  _she's so close to me. Her lips are so close to me._

Before she even knew what she was doing, Santana began singing again. She sang until the song was complete, looking out from the thick line of her eyelashes. When she finished, Santana blushed and started to worry that she didn't have anything to say.

Dani was looking at her with such intensity… she couldn't even help it. Here was this girl, this amazing girl, with a spectacular voice. She started to think about her own first months away from home, after her parents found her in a bra and panties with her girlfriend. There was always so much yelling at home, she had to make music to just drown it out… But no, she tried not to think about those times.

Before she had even decided to, Santana was kissing Dani. She'd seen something shift in those dark eyes, something sad had risen up in them, and all she knew was that she never wanted Dani to feel sadness again. Not if she could help it at least. The kiss was slower than their first. It started out with Santana's hand on the side of Dani's neck, and Dani scrunched her eyelids closed. She wanted to savor this moment so badly; she felt so lucky. As soon as Santana started to move her head away from the kiss, Dani moved her hands to the small of Santana's waist. They stopped for air, started kissing again, and finally pulled away when they heard the diner's door open.

"I should probably go out there in case that's a customer," Santana said, her voice a little raspy from the nerves.

"You stay here." She gestured to the spoons.

Dani thought of arguing. She thought of asking Santana if she was scared, and then thought better of it. She was usually so cool and collected, usually the one to worm her way into girls' hearts on her own terms, but she was slowly realizing that Santana had her wrapped around her little finger.

 _Don't mess this up,_  she kept telling herself all night. When she looked up at the clock and saw that it was finally 7 a.m., the end of their shift, Dani hurried into the washroom to fix her hair. She combed her fingers through it, put on a touch of lip-gloss, and rubbed her lips together until they were a deep shade of pink.

"Ready to walk me home?" She asked Santana as they left the diner.

"I was thinking that  _you_ could walk  _me_ home, Dani," Santana said with a half-smile. She hadn't missed that Dani seemed pretty nervous around her too, and she was enjoying this flirtatious game they had.

"You did, did you?" Dani asked. "I think I could do that."

They set off together as the sky's colors cracked out onto the horizon. At first it was yellow, then pink and violet.

"It's so beautiful," Dani finally said.

"I don't know how you can even see it!" Santana laughed, "I'm just exhausted after that shift."

"Oh yeah? Was drying spoons and playing crossword puzzles exhausting for you, Santana?" Dani laughed too, and then her smile vanished. "Hey," she said with a seriousness that made Santana think the worst.

"What?"

Dani's mouth quivered as she tried to hold back a grin. "You said your apartment was on the other side of central park, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Let's race to the other side of the park. It's the absolute best way to wake up. Well, one of the best ways." She looked down at Santana's short skirt, let her eyes bounce to her chest for just the right amount of time, and then she met Santana's wide eyes and winked.

"Is that so?" Santana asked. "What does the winner get?"

"She gets… Whatever she wants for breakfast." With that, Dani ran across Fifth Avenue (which was quiet at this time of morning, but her spontaneous outburst still prompted quite a lot of honking from the cabbies lined up in front of the brownstone apartments).

"Hey!" Santana shouted, and ran right after her.

Dani jogged through Central Park almost every morning that she didn't have work, so she knew all the shortcuts. When Santana finally reached the other exit, Dani wasn't even sweating anymore.

"You snooze you lose," she said with a wink as Santana approached her.

"You must have cheated somehow! You must have gotten a ride from one of those crazy bicycle guys or something," she insisted.

"Ah! A sore loser," Dani teased.

Santana sighed overdramatically, but didn't argue. They left the park together, and Dani almost started walking the wrong way.

"This way," Santana said, and took Dani's hand.

"Who am I to argue?" She blushed, but didn't make any move to pull away even after they were stopped at the steps to Santana's apartment.

"Well, this is mine," she said sadly.

"Okay Santana," Dani said. "I hope I'll see you at work sometime soon. Maybe before next time you can brush up on your knowledge of central park!"

They both laughed, and Dani started walking away.

"'Bye," Santana said, surprised. She didn't want Dani to go. As the opened the outer door to the apartment, she could see Dani's reflection in the glass getting a little smaller with every second. Suddenly, she shut it.

"DANI!" She called out onto the street. The girl turned, smiling.

"Dani do you, um.. Do you want to have some coffee or something?"

"Now?"

"Yeah."

Five minutes later, Dani and Santana were tiptoeing their way inside Santana's tiny apartment. Santana forgot that the draft in the hallway could make the door slam shut sometimes, and sure enough it closed with a loud BANG.

"Shit," she said under her breath. "My roommates are probably sleeping."

"Do you live with Rachel?" Dani had barely finished the sentence when Rachel emerged from her room, wearing pink satin pyjamas and a sleep mask pulled under the bangs on her forehead.

"Think you could have been any louder, San—OH," she stopped when she saw Dani, hair slightly messy from the wind in central park, skirt crumpled after a long night shift, but with her hand unmistakably linked to Santana's.

"I'll just leave you two," she said with a grin after getting a banana. She almost giggled with happiness as she attempted to make eye contact with Santana before hurrying back inside her room and closing the door.

"Well that was awkward," Santana said, unsure if she should apologize.

"I didn't think it was. Why – are you hiding something?" Dani teased.

"Only that I don't really drink coffee at 8 in the morning after staying up all night," Santana admitted.

"Neither do I, but I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet."

"I know the feeling."

"I am pretty tired though," Dani admitted.

"Well, I mean, I have a double bed. You can borrow pyjamas if you'd like."

Dani smiled and followed Santana into the bedroom. Santana stole glances as the beautiful girl in her room slowly removed her work uniform, facing away. She bit her lip.

"Confession time… I don't really wear pyjamas," Dani said slowly. Her heart was beating so fast, she was sure Santana would be able to hear it.

Santana laughed nervously. "Neither do I."

They lay down together in Santana's bed in their bras and underwear. Dani's was black lace, and the left side over her ribs was partially concealing what looked like a large tattoo. They lay facing each other, and Santana slowly reached out to touch the tattoo.

"What's this?" She asked.

Dani explained – it was a dragon, to commemorate her grandmother who had passed away a few years before she moved away from home.

"You know," Dani said, "I think she would have really accepted me. She always told me that I was the most beautiful person she knew… not because of my voice, or because I did well in school, but because I was just myself." Despite trying to avoid it, a big tear slowly pooled in Dani's eye and rolled down her cheek. It was easy to talk about leaving home, but there were very few girls who she told about her grandmother. Mostly, when she got comments about her tattoo she would just shrug them off.

Santana took her hand off of its resting place on Dani's ribs and dried the tear on her cheek. She bent forward to kiss it, an innocent action except for the amount of skin that was touching between them. Dani could feel the heat coming off of Santana as her soft, flat stomach rested against her own.

"Dani, I—" Dani interrupted her with her own lips, probing gently at first but then with desperation. She knotted her hands in Santana's hair, pulling her closer. As soon as she felt the other girl reciprocate it, as soon as she felt their desperation match, Dani rolled Santana onto her back. Their hands couldn't stop exploring each others' bodies, and each did everything they could not to be the one to escalate it, just in case the other wasn't ready. But finally, Dani hooked her right thumb underneath the delicate lace waistband of Santana's underwear. It was all she could do to pull away for a second to see if Santana was okay with it, but she wanted everything to be okay between them. Santana took that moment to reach behind Dani, unhooking the strap of what hid the rest of the dragon tattoo….

When they woke up in the morning, Santana's body was curled around Dani's.

"I want you," Dani whispered into Santana's soft hairline.

Santana opened her eyes and smiled. She couldn't believe everything that had happened. "Good morning, my Sapphic goddess" she sighed. Then she remembered about the race through central park the day before.

"What do you want for breakfast?" She asked happily.


	2. Morning After

After they'd finished breakfast, Dani and Santana couldn't stop kissing.

"I think you have some maple syrup on your lip," Dani would say, and then put her hand gently on Santana's ribs for balance. She would lean in, slowly trap Santana's bottom lip between hers, pretending to suck off the maple syrup, and then release the other girl. Even though Dani was the only one bracing herself for balance, Santana should have been. Her head was spinning from a mixture of lack of sleep and ecstatic shock.

"- _What do we have here?_ " Kurt exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen for the first time that morning. He knew something was up from the strange noises around the apartment early that morning, but he didn't expect the night-time guest to stay until so late. Usually when Santana brought home one of those tipsy college girls from NYU or Parson's, they left that same night.

"I'm Dani," the blonde said shyly. She wouldn't have been so forthcoming with Santana if she knew her roommate, whom she'd never met, was about to walk in. Usually she took things slower than this, but even still… She had no regrets.

"Hi Dani, I'm Kurt." He paused. "And you two are absolutely adorable." Santana was bright red.

"Alright, alright," she said, "we're all adults here."

"We certainly are," Dani said seriously. "Speaking of which, I've gotta start walking to my other job! I've already been late a couple of times, and I've only had it for a month!"

"'Bye Dani!" Said Kurt a little too enthusiastically.

"'Bye, you two," she giggled before kissing the top of Santana's head and dashing out the door.

As soon as she'd left, Santana allowed her grin to widen. "Is she not the  _best_?" She asked.

"Judging from the sounds I heard last night, she's definitely way up there," Rachel joked as she emerged from her door.

"Seriously, San, can you buy a gag or something? Or is that too kinky?"

Santana sighed. "I'm serious, guys, I really like her. I've only been with bi girls before, or stupid college girls who want attention from potential boyfriends. I'm so sick of being with people who don't appreciate me and… and Brittany broke my fucking heart."

Kurt and Rachel were by her sides in a heartbeat.

"Remember when I didn't get called back for that showing of  _Les Mis_ at the community theatre? And I was convinced that if I couldn't get that show booked, I'd never be able to make it in anything bigger?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah…"

"Well Brittany is like the community theatre. Things didn't work out with her, but it doesn't mean that you don't have something even better coming along."

"Rachel's right, Santana, I saw the way Dani was looking at you. She wants to make you happy."

"So you don't think it's bad that she left so early?"

"Girl…" Kurt began, "She stayed longer than any of those other people you've been seeing. And it was clear to me that she didn't  _want_ to leave."

"Thanks, guys," Santana said before hugging both of her roommates. Just when she was feeling like she needed to be lifted up, they were always there to say the right thing.  _I have no idea what I'd do without these guys_ , she thought to herself before returning to her bedroom for a much-needed late morning nap.

Dani was shaking a little as she left the apartment. Seeing Kurt look at her and Santana like they were a couple gave Dani the instinct to run. But as she left the lobby of the dirty brownstone, her stomach started going into knots.

It  _was_  true that she had a second job to get to, but Dani had enough self-awareness to realise that there was also something else going on with her. Whenever she did that, whenever she slept with girls quickly, she couldn't help but feel like she was giving away a little piece of herself. Usually that ended in her leaving - not texting the girl back, cutting ties, and moving on. She told herself that it was easier that way. If love was a game, she never wanted to be the losing team. When Dani first met Santana and realized she was gay too, she thought that it would run its course like most other girls she was with. She wasn't sad about that process anymore, because it was first nature to her. She didn't like hurting them, but she also didn't want to get hurt herself.

But as Dani was walking down the steps, halfway across Manhattan, and up to the building of her next job, something in the back of her mind was telling her that this time it wouldn't be that easy. She couldn't stop thinking about Santana's eyes. She couldn't stop thinking about the tenderness with which Santana touched the dragon tattoo after knowing how much it meant to her. She couldn't stop thinking that if, in some crazy turn of fate, she got a girlfriend… well, she wanted it to be Santana.

Dani's other job was at a sports bar in the lower east side - a grubby little place that mostly served regulars. She would bartend there, fend off any creeps, and make a nice wad of cash in tips. It wasn't her favorite job, but it paid pretty well. Most of all, Dani thought that with bartending experience she might be able to get an entry job at a club she hoped to one day play at. Her parents accused her of being unstrategic when she told them she was quitting school, but Dani knew how the world worked. And she tried her best.

Usually when she was at work, another bartender would catch her eye. Her name was Natalie, and she had short, deep red hair and a cute body. Natalie enjoyed Dani's flirting routine, because even though she was straight, she'd never been one to mind attention. Besides, it made the shifts pass easier and the shadier customers always gave them better tips when they played up the lesbian act. Dani made it clear that there were boundaries - her sexuality was a serious matter, and it didn't belong to strange men - but she couldn't help but enjoy flirting with the beautiful younger girl.

"Hey Dani," Natalie purred when the blonde walked in. "Someone has sex hair…"

"Shit, yeah," Dani reached up to touch her long tangled hair. "I forgot to brush it this morning, I had an all-night shift at my last job."

Natalie closed the gap between where they were standing, reached out a hand, and brushed the hair out of Dani's face. She leaned in close and wet her lips. "Our regular is here," she said nodding to the doorway. "Stool five, and he said he'd buy us a couple of beers if I kiss you. You down?"

Dani's stomach turned. "No," she managed to croak, and pushed her way over to the bar. Grabbing the cloth and wiping down the inside of the bar, she tried to act normal.  _Just finish your shift, go home, and sleep,_  she told herself.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she blurted out, slipping her cell phone into the pocket of her bar skirt.

As soon as she'd closed the door, she pulled out the phone. Her first thought was to text one of her friends about the hookup last night, but she scrolled past their names on her contact list. Her finger hovered over Santana's for a few seconds, but then she scrolled up. She typed out:

**I really like Santana, but I'm just not used to feeling like this about anyone. I don't know why I'm telling you this, I just had to tell someone.**

With a sharp  _beep_ , she sent the text message to Rachel.


	3. With A Little Help

Santana wrapped her hand around the back of Dani's head, her long fingers getting tangled in the other girl's soft blonde hair.

"Santana," breathed Dani, "please… I need you now."

Santana grinned and dug her finger tips into Dani, just as hard as she liked it. "But I like teasing you."

The dragon tattoo seemed to take a deep breath, and the skin got warmer on that side of Dani's ribs.

"San…" Dani moaned.

Santana woke up from her dream with a start. Her skin was shining with a thin coating of sweat, and she was shivering. The bed covers had been thrown off of Santana's bed sometime during her sleep, and Santana groaned as she stretched to reach for them.

As soon as she heard a sharp knock on her door, she knew that it was that sound that woke her up. Santana always relied on either Kurt or Rachel to wake her up after her post-overnight-shift nap.

"Santana," Rachel called into her room with a sing-song voice. "Time to wake up!"

Santana wanted to stab her for waking her up from a dream that vivid, but she thought better of it.

"Thanks Rach," she grumbled before rolling over and pulling her sheets up to her neck. She knew there was no way she could go back to sleep and continue the dream now.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Rachel opened the door and sat on Santana's bed, crossing her legs and looking around the room.

"This place is a mess, Santana! Don't you ever tidy stuff up?"

"Evidently not," Santana groaned.

"Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!" Rachel laughed. "But luckily, I'll forgive you because I have  _excellent_ news!"

"Yeah?" Santana asked. That was all the invitation to continue that Rachel needed.

"Yes. You're looking at the newest addition to that production of  _Funny Girl_ I've been talking about!" Rachel was practically glowing.

"Oh my god, Rach!" Santana bolted upright in her bed. "That's absolutely amazing!" She hugged her best friend, forgetting all about the dream. Rachel had been moping around for days after Finn's death, understandably, and Santana was excited to see her looking forward to something.

"I know!" Rachel exclaimed, and went on to rant excitedly about the director, other castmates, and the songs she was excited about singing.

Suddenly they both heard the chirp of Rachel's ringtone, and Santana passed the phone over to her friend from its position on the nightstand.

Rachel unlocked it, looked at the screen for a few minutes, and then pushed it deep into the pocket of her dress.

"And I know just the thing to celebrate my victory. We're going to have a party at our apartment!" She said.

Santana's heart leapt. After all the crazy Cheerios parties she'd attended at McKinley, she had been wishing there were more in New York. And a party at her own apartment would be so convenient! She couldn't wait to invite Dani and introduce her to everyone.  _Don't get ahead of yourself_ , she thought quickly. She'd have to make sure to act casual at the party - just in case Dani wanted to take things slower than they had the night before. Of all people, Santana understood that hookups didn't necessarily lead to relationships. She always felt guilty when she thought about the girls she'd been rebounding with, but she made sure that the casualness was mutual. She'd purposefully never had that conversation with Dani.

"Let's just invite everyone, and tell them to bring their friends too," Rachel said. Santana was surprised - she'd never taken Rachel for the partying type. "Oh, don't look at me like that!" Rachel sighed, "I need a night to forget all the crap that's happened since we graduated. I just want to drink, have fun, and get excited about my future on  _Broadway_."

"The show isn't on Broadway!" Santana reminded Rachel gently.

"I know, but it doesn't mean I'm not headed there!"

The two girls turned as they heard the front door of their apartment slam shut.

"That must be Kurt!" Santana said excitedly, "let's make sure he's okay with having the party!"

"Where are you ladies?" Kurt shouted as he took off his shoes.

"We're in here! We have something to ask you!"

It turned out that Kurt was more than okay with the idea of hosting a party. He'd decided to visit Blaine that weekend, anyways, and didn't mind so long as everyone cleaned up the apartment in time for his return.

Rachel and Santana had a few days to get their apartment ready for the party. They put everything valuable away, invited everyone they knew (and their friends' friends, too), and setup massive speakers with a subwoofer.

"Normally, I object to music I can't sing," Rachel said as she was getting ready, "which is really quite rare, of course."

Santana rolled her eyes.

"But tonight…our apartment is turning into a club!" With that, she turned the dial on the sound system, and the bass started up. Rachel had a couple weeks before the first rehearsals for  _Funny Girl._  Although she'd been practicing almost constantly, she had a lot of time on her hands too. Santana hadn't realized how much work Rachel put into the party, but by 6 o'clock on the night of, she started to realize.

Rachel had bought flashing Christmas lights on sale, and put them up all over the roof of their apartment. She and Santana turned the main lights off so that the whole apartment just glowed with the purple and white lights running across the ceiling overhead. They hooked up an iPod to the speaker system, which was blasting pop songs remixed into dance music.

By 8 o'clock, people started to arrive. The first to arrive was Natalie, a friend of a friend of a friend. She had an excellent taste in music, and had agreed to supply the iPod's playlist.

Rachel hadn't known what alcohol to pick up, so she gave Santana money to buy stuff for both of them. Santana hadn't bought party supplies in a while, so she couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement walking into the store. She was like a kid in a candy shop. Her mind flashed to all the Cheerios high school parties she went to, and couldn't help but remember all the times Brittany and her spent the entire night dancing together…

The result of Santana's trip to the store was two bottles of vodka.

"Tonight," she told Rachel, "we're doing  _shots._ "

Rachel looked uneasy, but didn't argue. She had said that she wanted to lose herself in a night of fun, and she wasn't taking that back anytime soon.

As guests started to arrive, Santana was already feeling the effects of the shots she had taken with Rachel earlier. Rachel had paced herself a lot more than Santana, figuring that she didn't have very much drinking experience - that, and she didn't want to damage her voice.

Santana's stomach felt warm as she watched the guests stream in. Most of them were mere acquaintances to her and Rachel, but she didn't mind. She went around to the groups, introducing herself to anyone she didn't know. She danced with a couple of guys, always leaving when they got too handsy.

Most of all, she was killing time waiting for Dani to arrive. She'd texted her a few times after the night the blonde slept over, but not too much. Santana hadn't wanted to seem overeager, but Dani promised she would come to the party.

Santana couldn't wait until she arrived. She'd spent hours trying to decide what to wear, and settled on a low black silk tank top and skinny jeans. She'd put her hair in a high ponytail, applied winged eyeliner, and just a little bit of lip gloss. Rachel assured Santana that she looked hot, but Santana still wanted to see Dani's reaction when she came in.

Dani could hear her heart beating in her ears as she walked up the steps to the apartment. She recognized the thud of the base from the lobby of Santana's building, and she grinned. If there was one thing Dani could do, it was party. Plus, Dani and Santana had never drank together before… it was sure to be interesting.

She hoped that Rachel didn't tell Santana about the text message. As soon as she'd sent it, she turned her phone off and went back into the bar hurriedly, trying to forget all about it. She was also terrified for the reply.

Later that night, Rachel had finally answered her, and they had a conversation over text message that made Dani feel a  _lot_ better:

DANI:

**I really like Santana, but I'm just not used to feeling like this about anyone. I don't know why I'm telling you this, I just had to tell someone.**

RACHEL:

**Don't worry, girl! San feels the same way, I'm pretty sure. She had a really hard breakup a while ago, but the first time I've seen her happy since is with you.**

DANI:

**Idk what to do though! I don't know how to tell her that it's more than just a hookup…**

RACHEL:

**I've got you covered. We're going to have a party at our apartment at 8 on Friday, BYOB. Maybe a few drinks in your system will help the conversation with Santana go easier? ;)**

DANI:

**I like the way you think, Berry.**

Dani had no idea what she'd do without Rachel. She'd never found it hard to talk to girls in the past, but Santana was different. When she looked at her with those dark brown eyes, it was like it was all over for Dani.

As soon as she got to Santana's door, she reached a hand up to smooth her hair, and took a deep breath. But before she could reach out for the handle, the door flew open and she was looking at Natalie.

"Shit," Dani mumbled under her breath as she saw that the other girl was drunk.

"DANI!" Natalie squealed, and hugged her co-worker from the sports bar. "I was just going to leave because I didn't have anyone to dance with!" The redhead looked down at the ground confusedly for a second. "Let's DANCE!" She said to Santana, grabbing her hand.

As soon as she was touching Dani, Natalie yanked her into the apartment and shut the door. "Nice outfit," she said to Dani. She was wearing a short pleated skirt and tight tank top, a bunch of tribal bracelets almost covering the tattoo covering her arm.

Dani and Natalie started dancing together innocently enough, as Dani made sure to keep distance between herself and the other girl. They had a history of flirting together at work, and Dani had taken Natalie to a few parties where they would dance together. It usually got more and more sensual as the girls became more intoxicated, so Dani didn't want to risk Santana seeing any of that.

Speaking of which, where was Santana? Dani craned her neck to look around the apartment for the other girl, smiling slightly as she saw all the couples locked together, moving to the beat of the song. As she whipped her head around to look for Santana the other way, Natalie started dancing a little closer.

"C'mon, Dani, you're barely even dancing with me," she complained as she ran her hands through Dani's hair.

Dani kept looking around and saw Rachel, who frowned at her. The party was so crowded that it was impossible to find Santana as long as she was dancing with Natalie, but Dani didn't want to hurt her feelings. After all, she had to work with the girl.

Meanwhile, Santana was in her room adjusting her hair. She'd been dancing quite a bit, and didn't want it to look messy when Dani arrived. She heard a knock on her door, and grinned when Rachel entered.

"Hey Rach, having fun? This party was such a good idea! I hope Dani gets here soon." Santana giggled and nodded over to her bottle of vodka, whose level was steadily decreasing.

"Yeah… Look, San, Dani's here. But, um, she's dancing all over that girl Natalie. Do you want me to go tell her to leave?"

"Oh," Santana said, trying to hide her disappointment. "That's okay, Rach. I guess, I mean, we never said we'd be anything serious or anything…" she trailed off.

Rachel hugged her friend. "I say, you go out there and dance with one of those girls to show her what she's missing."

Santana nodded. If there was one thing she'd learned from dating Brittany, it was never to show hurt. Deep down she realized that that wasn't healthy, but Santana had been hurt enough. That, and she'd had enough drinks to just want to make the best of the night. The hurt feelings were pooling in the pit of her stomach, but at least Santana had something to wash them down with.

Rachel took her hand and led her out of the room, right to a cute brunette with a pixie cut. Santana unconsciously smoothed down her hair and approached the girl with a smile, trying not to look across the room to Dani. She was starting to feel a little wobbly on her shoes.

"Hey Sam," Rachel said, "This is Santana. Santana, this is Sam, Kurt's friend." With that, she left the two alone together.

Sam had to practically yell to be heard over the roaring of the bass. "Kurt invited me, but forgot to tell me that he wasn't even going to be here," she laughed. "So I don't really know anyone." She blushed a deep pink under her freckles as she looked up at Santana shyly.

"That's alright," Santana said, grabbing her hand, "now you know me."

She led Sam to a space in between the couples dancing, and grinned as a remix of "Timber" started playing over the speakers. Santana instantly felt better. They'd covered the song in Glee club, and she still remembered the way she moved her hips to the song. Sam was looking at her like she was an angel, and Santana instinctively wrapped her arm around the girl.

"So, are you in school?" Sam shouted as they were dancing.

"Nah… Are you?"

"Yeah, I'm a freshman at NYU," she answered.

Santana smiled, thinking of all the silly NYU girls who had experimented with her. Then she remembered Dani telling her that she thought she needed a real sapphic goddess, and she couldn't help but turn to look at where she knew the blonde was dancing with the other girl.

Sure enough, Dani's arms were around the other girl's shoulders, and they were dancing closely to the music. Santana couldn't help but notice that Natalie's lips were practically brushing Dani's cheek as she whispered something in her ear.

She sadly turned back to Sam, pulling her closer. Santana refused to let Dani make her feel out of place in her own apartment. She looked up at the lights, thinking that everything about the night was beautiful. Besides, Dani didn't owe her anything…

Santana saw Sam's eyes widen a little. Just as she was wondering why, still moving to the beat of the bass, she felt a hard tap on her shoulder. She ignored it, thinking it was Rachel. She needed distractions right now, and she didn't need her roommate asking her if she thought Dani should be kicked out of the party.

Santana finally turned, reluctantly, when she heard a sharp cough. To her surprise, it was Dani. Santana almost lost her breath as she saw the slight layer of dance sweat on the girl's forehead, her flawless eye shadow, pursed lips, and raised eyebrow. Dani looked drop-dead sexy, and Santana couldn't miss the anger burning in her dark eyes.

Dani grabbed Santana's hand, much to Sam's surprise. "I just need to borrow your dance partner for a second," she told Sam, and started walking away. Santana noticed that Dani slurred her words a little, and she almost laughed.  _This party is ridiculous_ , she thought.  _First Dani gets drunk, and then she has the nerve to practically kiss another girl right in front of me._ The anger that she'd been trying to ignore bubbled up to the surface. She looked down at Dani's hand interlocked with hers.

Santana found herself following Dani into the bathroom. Dani locked the door behind them, and gripped the bathroom counter as she almost lost her balance on top of her high heels.

"Sorry for the setting," Dani said, "but you locked your room and I don't have the key."

"I do," Santana answered calmly.

"We won't need it. What the  _hell_ are you doing, Santana?"

Santana was facing the ground, afraid to look Dani in the eye. Finally, Dani put her hand gently under Santana's chin and lifted up her face. There was a wet glint in Dani's eyes.


	4. Picking Up the Pieces

Santana found herself following Dani into the bathroom. Dani locked the door behind them, and gripped the bathroom counter as she almost lost her balance on top of her high heels.

"Sorry for the setting," Dani said, "but you locked your room and I don't have the key."

"I do," Santana answered calmly.

"We won't need it. What the  _hell_ are you doing, Santana?"

Santana was facing the ground, afraid to look Dani in the eye. Finally, Dani put her hand gently under Santana's chin and lifted up her face. There was a wet glint in Dani's eyes.

"What am  _I_  doing? What am  _I_  doing?" Santana was practically shouting, but she didn't even care. She looked behind Dani at the bathroom mirror – her face was turning an angry red, and her eye makeup had gotten smudged while she was dancing with Sam. She bit her lip a little and looked back at Dani.

"Yeah. You know, I was only dancing with Natalie because I work with her at the bar, and I can't have her being mad at me. I came to this stupid party for you; it was all for you."

Santana could see that Dani was close to tears. She'd clearly drank too much, and was swaying a bit on her heels again.

"It would all be so much easier if I didn't like you…" Dani said, trailing off.

Santana felt like she'd taken a slap in the face. She didn't know how to respond – her relationship with Brittany hadn't been easy either, but Brittany always made it clear that she wanted her. Well, until the end…

The two girls stood staring at each other for a few seconds, neither of them knowing what to say. Dani was biting her lip, and couldn't look away from Santana's eyes. She could see the hurt pooling in them, the tears that Santana was desperately trying to keep back, but she didn't know how to make it better. She wished she could take it all back, she wished she had never danced with Natalie, and she wished she could somehow tell Santana how badly she wanted to be with her. But no words came out.

"Okay," Santana said, "if that's how you feel, then you don't have to worry. It's not like we have to be together just because we hooked up once." With that, she turned the knob of the bathroom door and left Dani standing alone with her back against the mirror.

"Hey, San, what happened?" Rachel asked as she saw Santana walking across the apartment to her room.

"I don't want to talk about it, Rach. Sorry. Can you take the vodka out of my room and put it in the kitchen?"

Rachel hurriedly took out the bottle, and hugged her friend. "I'll tell her to leave," she whispered in Santana's ear.

"Thanks," Santana said as she shut her door. She didn't want to hear the music or see the people anymore. She just wanted to take off her tight clothes and lay down in her bed alone.

Rachel was livid as she left Santana. How could Dani say she really liked her, and then make her this upset? Rachel's mind kept flashing back to how tough Santana had been in high school – Dani must really have messed up for her to be this torn up.

As Rachel cut her way through the crowded party, she searched for Dani. Finally she saw Natalie and asked her where the blonde was.

"She's still in the bathroom," the girl slurred. "She said she didn't want to see me."

 _At least Dani made one good decision tonight,_ Rachel thought to herself as she knocked on the bathroom door.

Dani opened it a crack, hoping it was Santana on the other side, and started to close the door when she saw Rachel.

"Oh no you don't," Rachel said as she pushed her way in and locked the door behind her. "Why is Santana crying?" she demanded.

"I don't know, I saw her with that other girl and I just got so jealous and everything I said came out wrong," Dani said, sitting on the counter.

"I thought you liked her! That's part of the reason I had this party – so you could tell her how you felt!"

"I know… I'm so sorry, Rachel. I always mess things up with people I care about."

"Well do you care about her, or do you  _like_ her, Dani?"

The other girl paused, looking down at the hem of her shirt. She took a deep breath and looked back at Rachel, right in the eye. She wanted the other girl to know that she was serious.

"I could fall in love with Santana," Dani said slowly, "and a part of me already has."

Rachel thought for a minute. She didn't want her best friend's heart to get broken, but she also knew that this could be a great thing for Santana.

"Go to Santana's room," Rachel finally told her. "Just do two quick knocks followed by a third. That's how we let each other know who's at the door. She'll think it's me, but don't take 'no' for an answer. Tell her how you feel now, and apologize, otherwise she's never going to give you a second chance."

Sure enough, Dani could see Santana's doorknob starting to turn after she did the three knocks.

"You can come in, but I don't want to freakin' talk about it," Santana shouted through the door, followed by an "—oh."

"Look, can I just talk to you for like five minutes, Santana?"

"Haven't you already said your part? Honestly, I just want to be alone. I'm too drunk for this shit; let's talk when we're sober," she said as she started to close the door.

"No. San, there's some things that I need to say right now."

"Fine. Come in, but I'm only giving you the five minutes that you asked for." Santana self-consciously looked down at her oversized t-shirt and short shorts pajama combination. Dani followed her into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Santana, I like you." Dani said it without hesitating, as fast as possible before she could even chicken out. Usually it was other girls who were saying that to her – she'd never really appreciated how scary it was when you truly felt that way. She was looking down at the bed as she said it, and when Dani looked back up at Santana she was surprised to see that the beautiful girl's features were still twisted in anger.

"Well no shit, Dani," Santana said, sitting on the bed beside the other girl. "Babe," she started, and her features softened, "I know that you like me, and I know I like you. But I don't have time for drama right now. I just want something simple with a girl who makes me happy."

Dani bit her lip. "Then why did you start dancing up on Sam when you saw me with Natalie?"

It was a good question. Santana didn't even know what to say…she just knew that she'd wanted to make Dani jealous. She didn't want her to have the power to hurt her. "My ex-girlfriend broke my heart," she finally said.

Dani waited for her to continue, but the words weren't coming. Instead, Santana couldn't hold back tears. She wasn't crying violently, or even sobbing. Her crying was mournful, with big fat tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. "I'm sorry," Santana said. "I really am over her, I just don't want the same thing to happen with you. I want to be good enough for you."

Dani's heart broke. Santana's cheeks were really flushed from the vodka, and her hands were shaking a little. Dani reached out to her, covering Santana's cold hands with both of her own. She paused only to stroke Santana's cheek, wiping away the tears.

"Babe, we all have some sad love story in our past. I tell people that the reason I left home was my homophobic parents. And that's true. But another big,  _big_ part of it was that my first girlfriend decided she didn't want me anymore. There wasn't anyone else; it wasn't like we even had a big fight. Just, overnight, she told me she didn't love me anymore."

Santana looked at Dani, surprised. The other girl was so confident; she'd always assumed that she was the one breaking hearts.

The two looked at each other for a while, silently. Santana couldn't stop – she didn't even want to blink, for fear of missing a second.  _Dani is kind of like me_ , she thought.  _She'll hurt as many people as it takes not to get hurt, herself. But then why are we both sitting here, making ourselves vulnerable?_

"Ever since you started working at the diner, I haven't been able to take my eyes off of you," Santana finally admitted. "I love watching the way you smile at that old guy that always sits at table two, I love watching the way your hips do this funny little dance when you're carrying a lot of plates. I even love the way you sometimes fold the napkins into boats when the restaurant is quiet."

Now Dani's hands were shaking a little. She cleared her throat, not trusting herself to speak, and lifted a hand off of Santana's to tuck a stray lock of hair behind the other girl's ear.

Dani forced herself to look at Santana right in the eye. "Do you want to try this?" She asked, "Do you want to try  _us_?"


End file.
